A Prank of the Heart
by xXForevermoreXx
Summary: Pan is always looking for trouble and dragging Trunks along with her. Together, they pull pranks on other people, laughing as they witness the looks on people's faces, only to witness their heart's turn to each other in the end.
1. Ideas

**Chapter 1 – Ideas**

A/N: I know, I should be updating my other story and finish it before posting this story, but I couldn't help it. :P So now that you're here already, review once you finish reading and tell me if you liked it! This story's going to be a lot shorter than 'Mistaking Mistakes', which took forever to finish. Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading!

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He heard his bedroom door open, and even though he couldn't see the person standing under the doorway, he rested his head on the ground and groaned. "No, just kill me now," he said, knowing exactly who had entered his room without knocking. He watched from the corner of his eyes, the girl's ecstatic smile, which concerned him greatly. She was up to something.

"Please?" her eyebrows rising, a hopeful expression set on her face. She closed the door behind her and quickly walked to him and sat next to him, her smile still plastered on her face, which almost amused him.

His eyes were set right at her, his lips curved into a frown, and his arms under his head. He gave her a don't-be-stupid kind of expression, as he shook his head. "No," he said. "We'll get into trouble again like last time." He sat up from his previous sit-up routine only to get pinned down by the disappointed girl. Her hands were right at his shoulders, her body on the left of his body. Her hair tickled his nose when he tried to get up again, so he had to rest his head on the ground before he sneezed.

"If I remember correctly, we only got in trouble because you forgot to make sure no one was working overtime at Capsule Corp!" She shook her head as if scolding him. "If only you were smarter."

"Hey, you were supposed to be the on the lookout."

"This is totally different, Trunks! This time, we won't mess with the business employees! This is family! All we need to do is apply Vaseline on every doorknob in the house once everyone arrives, so that way after dinner, when people need to use the bathroom, they won't be able to open the doors and-"

"Seriously, Pan, we're getting too old for pulling pranks on people. Don't you think that they'll suspect we did it? And really, what's with you and coming up with these ridiculous ideas?"

"Aw come on," she pleaded, sticking her bottom lip out, pouting. "Either you can help me or I'll ask Robert if he wants to."

Robert came into the picture once Pan got into college. They became close friends but she was closer to Trunks, of course. Trunks and Pan were practically inseparable unless she was at school and he was at work. Sometimes both would skip school and work to hang out when they were unable to see each other because of their busy schedules. Robert would always cover for Pan, telling the teachers that she was at the nurse's office or whatever seemed to make sense at the time.

As the son of Vegeta, Trunks had developed some of his fathers' possible deleterious genes. Trunks felt a pang of jealousy and felt his frown deepen when the other man's name was mentioned. "No, I'll help, just as long as no one's too pissed off at us like last time."

Pan grinned and let go of him, allowing him to sit up. "I can't guarantee that, Mr. Briefs." She took out a small bottle of Vaseline from her pocket and handed it to him. "Here," she said when he extended his hand to grasp the bottle. "Hide this in your pocket and when I give you the signal later when we sit down to eat outside, follow me into the house, alright?"

He found himself smiling. "What's the signal going to be this time? Are you going to throw an egg at Goten again like last year?" He glanced at the Vaseline label and then he put it in his pocket.

"Alright, I admit, that wasn't the smartest idea I've come up with, but…" she trailed off, not knowing what to say to defend herself. She received a laugh from the man in front of her, and she nudged his knee with her hand. "You have to admit, the actual prank itself; replacing the cooked chicken in the oven with a live one once the oven was cool enough, was genius."

He raised both of his eyebrows, his eyes gleaming as he smiled. "Yeah, Pan, it was pure genius." She could hear his sarcasm, but she smiled anyway, remembering how much fun they had that day. "I remember my dad's disappointed face when he thought the food wasn't finished yet-"

"And when he raised his hand to the chicken to blast it with an energy ball, hoping that would cook it quicker," she interjected, finishing his sentence for him. She laughed with him, the sound of their laughter filling the room.

"My sister was nearly in tears when she ran toward it to save the chicken. Man, that was hilarious," he added, tears forming at the corner of his eyes from laughing so hard.

"And my uncle Goten! He actually pushed your father into the bowl of mashed potatoes before Vegeta could blast the chicken! Now _that_ was surprising!"

He nodded, agreeing with her. "Yeah, but really, the egg thing actually made it incredibly obvious that it was us. Do something different this time, alright? Something subtle and… I don't know… Different." Her eyes became mischievous, and he had to ask. "What are you thinking?"

She shook her head, getting up. "Nope, I'm not telling you, Mr. Briefs. You'll just wait until the time comes."

"But what if I don't know it's the signal?" he questioned, getting up on his feet as well.

"Oh, you'll know," she said grinning wide.

He couldn't help but worry but he smiled anyway, following her as they left his room.


	2. The Live One

**Chapter 2 – **The Live One

A/N: Hm… I like this chapter. It was fun to write, and I hope you guys will like it too! Thanks for the reviews by the way! Enjoy!

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It was loud, like parties usually were. Pan was in the living room, holding a cup of red punch, her silver bracelet that her parents had bought for her clinking against the glass. She wore a formal attire, just as Bulma had instructed everyone to do, and feeling self conscious, she had backed away from everyone, finding a place where she could stand and watch people mingle. She stepped aside to a hallway and looked around the room, looking for a certain man.

"Pan?"

She turned around and smiled warmly, waving her free hand stupidly. "Hi Robert! I didn't think you'd come; you're late!"

He chuckled, shrugging, his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that. I got lost in this mansion and I couldn't find my way until I heard that girl over there," he pointed to Bra, who was laughing with Goten in the middle of the living room, "Screamed, and I just followed the noise."

Pan laughed. "Yeah, sometimes Bra can be really loud, but that's something we're all used to now. So if you want, I can get someone to show you around a bit. I'm not so great at finding my way in this house so that's why I'm usually with someone." She turned her head and looked around, then looked back at the man in front of her. "Problem is, I don't see him around…"

"Him?"

"Yup."

"Is he your boyfriend?"

Pan laughed. "Are you kidding? He's just a friend. We've known each other since… Well, since forever. Funny thing is that he used to be my babysitter." She scanned the room again, and when she spotted Trunks, who was buttoning his shirt as he walked down the stairs, she called his name.

He wasn't finished buttoning his shirt so he didn't look up. His shirt was swaying away from his body as he followed Pan's voice, his well-defined abs partially showing. "What?" he asked nonchalantly, trying to finish buttoning his shirt. "I'm kind of busy right now."

"With what?" she asked.

"What does it look like?"

"It looks like you're trying to show off your own body, but I have to tell you something, Trunks, Robert is _not_ gay."

Trunks stopped struggling to button his shirt and he gaped at the girl, a look of disbelief on his face. "What the hell, Pan!" he said, just realizing that there was indeed another man beside her. When he glanced first at the man, Robert, and then to Pan. "You're sick, Pan, that's all I have to say." He went back to button his shirt, this time turning around so that his back faced them.

Pan laughed, nudging Robert's arm with her elbow. "Looks like Trunks is trying to pull his dignity together. That, or he's shy." She joked, and she could have sworn she saw the muscles on his neck twitch in either embarrassment or anger.

Trunks turned around, having buttoned his shirt completely except for the first few on the top. "Those gay jokes really aren't funny, Pan," he started, crossing his arms. "Just because I don't tell you about my love life doesn't mean I don't have them."

"Well it's too bad you can't prove how not gay you are," she taunted, watching Robert from the corner of her eyes back away slightly from the two, obviously uncomfortable with basically everything they were saying.

"Yeah?" Trunks asked, his tone dead serious. He was done playing games. He was tired from all of her sick jokes and letting it go. If she was going to be like that, he'll do anything to make her realize that he seriously wasn't going to keep letting her off the hook.

"Yeah," Pan said back.

"You want a bet?"

"I didn't think gay men had enough courage to-" And before she was able to finish her sentence, he grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her to him, crushing his lips against hers.

It wasn't long, but it was long enough to cause Robert to turn away awkwardly, somehow finding the loud girl with blue hair someone he could talk to. When Trunks let go of her, breaking the kiss, their eyes met. They both had similar expressions, which were shock, confusion, and most importantly, an emotion both didn't know how to explain. An emotion that seemed so strange that they didn't believe it at first. Was it attraction?

She looked away. "Kami, Trunks, you gotta watch that temper of yours," she spoke quietly, trying to lighten the mood, but she was partially serious, which was easily detected by the way she spoke his name.

He didn't answer, but he didn't exactly have time to anyway, because just when she finished speaking, someone called both their names, and they quickly stepped away from each other. Pan turned around to leave first, Trunks following right behind her.

Bulma had been the one to call their names, and when they arrived at the living room, she smiled widely. "Finally! We found everyone! Alright, it's time for dinner so lets head on outside!"

Everyone started walking to the sliding door to the backyard, talking amongst themselves, one conversation on top of another so that it was hard to actually hear what everyone was saying. Robert had found someone he could talk to, seeming to forget all about the encounter he had with Pan and Trunks.

They were seated quickly, finding their names written on little placards above each set of utensils. Pan sat beside Trunks, who was across from Robert. All three of them decided it was best to pretend nothing happened earlier, and that everything was normal. After about an hour later, the three actually were able to talk comfortably with each other, as if nothing out of the ordinary happened.

That is, until Pan nudged Trunks with her foot. He looked at her expectedly, waiting for her to speak. When she gave him a 'you-know' kind of look, he raised his eyebrows at her, and she sighed heavily, frustrated. Then, in Trunks' point of view, she made strange expressions on her face. He smiled dumbly at her, not understanding. Pan grabbed his wrist and yanked him forward but only resulted in him gently knocking the table with his body, the drinks in their cups slightly shaking from the impact. Robert watched the two, confused and a bit disgusted of what seemed like a public display of affection. After a minute of looking stupid, Pan threw her napkin she had on her lap on the table and excused herself into the house. Trunks shrugged, reaching his hand to grab a breadstick that was calling out for him. When Pan was out of sight in the house, Robert spoke.

"Do you ever wonder if Pan has a… thing for you?"

He nearly choked on his breadstick. "What?" he said almost too loudly. When the others at the table glanced at the two men sitting across from each other, he forced a laugh. "That's a really good joke, Robert. Wow, I never would have thought that! Gosh, you're a genius!" He waited until everyone went back to their conversation until he went back on topic. "Uh, no. We're just friends," he said under his breath. He grabbed his drink in front of him, swirling the liquid in the cup before bringing it to his mouth.

Robert nodded. "Really? It seemed like she was giving you… You know," he waved his breadstick in the air, thinking of the right words. "Like… Let's say… Signals.""

He nearly choked on his drink. "What?" he said again. Signals… Pan sending signals… Crap! That was the signal! He stood up from his chair quickly, nearly knocking over the glass of water. "Um… Excuse me; I'll be right back. I just need to…" he racked is brain for possible excuses. "Check on the chicken."

"It's right here," Robert said, pointing to the dish in front of them.

Trunks blinked, unable to come up with an excuse. "I…" He noticed Pan waving frantically at him at the window, and he started to go. "The live one!" he shouted quickly, and before anyone could ask him what he was talking about, he ran off, slamming the sliding door shut behind him.

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A/N: Well, there's the signal! haha, it turned out to be normal but Trunks was too stupid to realize that...


	3. Dealing with Emotions

**Chapter 3 – Dealing with Emotions**

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, you guys! Wow, the weather is really nice today. It's like 80 degrees out! A little bit too hot for me... Anyway, I'm surprised I'm still getting them from my already finished ones, but its a good kind of surprise! :) I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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He was breathing hard, like he had just run a marathon. His face was red from embarrassment but she had no sympathy for him. He was ridiculous out there. And everyone was probably suspicious of the two, now that Trunks made a scene, attempting to follow her discretely. "Smooth, Trunks, real smooth," Pan said sarcastically, crossing her arms.

"Hey," he said between breaths. "I did my best!" He deeply inhaled and after a few seconds, he was able to regain normal breathing.

Pan held back a smile, her lips set downwards into a small frown. She decided to let his slip up go and press onto a different complaint. "What the heck took you so long anyway?"

"I didn't know whatever ridiculous facial expressions you were making were the actual signals! Why didn't you tell me _before_, like I asked??" he countered, standing up straight, the color of his face returning back to normal. "You made me look like a total idiot out there!" he shouted, throwing his arms in the air in exasperation.

"Hm… Of course you couldn't handle that; and in front of Robert too." She realized her mistake of ridiculing him after her words. His eyebrows furrowed downward into a deep glare. He was really serious about this whole issue and Pan realized that. When she was sure he was going to yell at her, he surprised her by turning his back to her and walking toward the hallway, his hands reaching in his pocket for the Vaseline. She was positive he would have yelled at her; given her some kind of comeback. She actually would rather have him do that too. At least then, she would know he wasn't _completely_ angry with her. "Oh come on, Trunks," she started, quickly running to catch up to him. "I was just-"

"Let's just get this over with," he interrupted, opening the cap of the lubricant bottle. He felt her hand grasp his arm and he tensed for a split second. That was enough for Pan to quickly let go. He almost felt guilty for being so unapproachable but she had it coming.

"Trunks," she said his name penitently, but didn't continue, as if she was afraid to do so.

He sighed, stopping to face her. "What?"

She opened her mouth to speak but before she was able to, they heard the sliding door open and Robert's voice along with Gotens'. As if on instinct, Pan and Trunks quickly opened the walk-in coat closet and closed it quietly behind them, hiding from Robert and Goten.

They listened to the sound of their friends' muffled voices for a while, but when they felt they couldn't strain their ears long enough to listen to the whole conversation, they gave up. In spite of that, they were stuck in the closet until Robert and Goten left. Trunks heard her sigh softly beside him.

"I'm sorry, okay?" she spoke quietly so no one but Trunks could hear her and also because it was rare of her to say those words. This was hard for her because she usually wasn't serious about things. Sometimes she could go too far with jokes but they never seemed to get too serious like this one had. "I forgot. It just sort of came out," she tried to explain, her hands waving around in the air as if grasping for the right words to say.

"Right," she heard him say.

"Really, Trunks," she tried to convince him. She heard him say an 'mmhm', although she knew he was just brushing her apology aside. She couldn't help but feel angry at how for the first time in a long time; she finally apologized, only to be ignored. She glared at him in the dark, but of course, he couldn't see her expression. "Kami, why the hell are you so darn stubborn??"

He scoffed, his hand finding her shoulder to push her slightly. "_I'm_ stubborn??" He felt her come back at him, pushing him harder than he had her. As the son of the most stubborn man in the universe, he pushed her back, and they ended up in a small physical battle.

That is, until he accidentally stepped on her foot when she was coming at him and she ended up falling, him losing his balance while this was happening. It resulted in her falling fully onto his body, his back partially against the wall in an uncomfortable position. He could feel her breath against his cheek and then, before he was able to speak, he felt something press against his lips. But he wasn't stupid. Although he couldn't see what it was that was against his mouth, he knew that it was Pan.

And he wasn't able to react to it because she pulled away slowly. Her hands were on his chest, making his position even more uncomfortable, but he couldn't feel anything anymore. It was as if the girl on top of him distracted him. "That," he heard her speak quietly, "was for earlier, you jerk."

He was confused for a second. But then he understood fully what she meant. She had the last hit… But in this case, it was a kiss, from earlier before when he kissed her to prove to her that he was indeed a straight man. "You're immature," he whispered back, and he felt the weight disappear. She was up on her feet.

"You disgust me," he heard her say while he got up.

"Then why'd you kiss me?" he asked, expecting her not to answer, but she did.

"It wasn't a kiss, stupid. That was punishment for what you did earlier, in front Robert. You should've asked if it was okay before you did it, Trunks, I'm not like you: going up to random people and just kissing them when you feel like it! You ruined my first kiss, you inconsiderate-"

"I didn't really kiss you, Pan, that was merely proof that I wasn't-"

"-Gay?" she finished for him, her hands coming up to her hips. "Well now that you've proved yourself to be a guy, why don't you suck up your pride and be a man?"

"Why can't you grow up, Pan, seriously, you're twenty years old and you're just going along like you're still a teenager, pulling stupid pranks on people! You're seriously the most unladylike woman I've ever met and for goodness sakes, have you ever heard of the word 'etiquette'? You shouldn't be speaking to me like that; I'm older than you. You should be respectful and-"

"Respectful?" she repeated, as if he'd just said the most ridiculous thing she's ever heard. "If you're such an adult, why couldn't you understand that I was kidding when I make those gay jokes instead of taking it seriously? It's like you have no idea what the word 'fun' means!"

"Okay, so what if I joked around and said you're attracted to other women? Would you prove you weren't?"

"No, Trunks, I wouldn't, because I'd know that you were kidding. You see? That's how understanding I am."

He laughed bitterly. "This seriously isn't the same thing. You already _know_ that I was kidding because I _told_ you. And this isn't in front of a friend of mine so you wouldn't feel the humiliation I felt when you 'joked around'!"

"Don't be so overdramatic, Trunks, you know that I-"

He interrupted her before she finished. "Do you know what? I'm tired of arguing. Let's just get out of here and finish your stupid prank; Goten and Robert's already gone." He opened the closet door, and sure enough, their friends were gone, leaving them alone again.

Pan followed behind, her arms crossed, grumbling quietly behind him. "It's not stupid," she mumbled, along with "Doesn't even know how to have fun," somewhere in her incoherent mumbles.

While they walked past doors, they smeared Vaseline on the doorknobs, making sure to cover every single one of them. Their work was done silently, as if they were still angry at each other. Soon, they walked up the stairs and started covering the rest of the doorknobs. When they reached the final one, which was at the end of the hall, Pan spoke. "If you didn't want to take part in any of this, all you had to do was tell me, Trunks." As he smeared the last doorknob with Vaseline, she leaned against another door, unknowingly brushing her shirt against the Vaseline, until she could feel the lack of friction between her and the door. She turned around, cursing as she did.

"So stupid," she heard him say, and she frowned.

Ignoring his comment, she unbuttoned her shirt to remove and inspect it. She didn't know he was watching her every move.

And he didn't know how much she really grew up until now. As she fumbled while removing her sweater, he noticed her figure. He knew he probably wouldn't admit how beautiful she really was, afraid that it would sound disgusting; a man nearly a decade older than her thought she was attractive. And what makes that worse was that he used to baby-sit her when she was young and had befriended her.

Underneath her baggy sweater was a dark t-shirt, a long, v-neck shape revealing her bare neck, and teasingly covering her cleavage. "Is that really an appropriate shirt to wear, Pan?" he said, trying to get her to put that sweater back on. But she didn't get that hint.

"This was the only formal thing I had in my closet, Trunks, I hate shopping, and you know that."

While she was just about done wiping off the Vaseline from her shirt, she looked up at him, catching his gaze. She couldn't help but blush, realizing he was staring at her. "Stop it, Trunks, you also know I don't like it when people stare."

His cheeks turned slightly pink from embarrassment, and he quickly fixed his gaze elsewhere. "Would you just hurry up? They're probably wondering what's taking us so long."

Pan couldn't help but smile because of the faint blush he had on his cheeks. She quickly feigned a frown when he glanced at her way, pretending to still be angry with him. "I said stop staring," she said, receiving a gentle push from him as they walked side-by-side back to the dinner table outside.


	4. That's Why I Hate Him

**Chapter 4 - That's Why I Hate Him**

A/N: Alright, there's chapter 4! I hope you enjoy reading, and don't forget to review! Sorry, it's a little short, but I just wanted to get this much posted since I won't be able to update in a while, unless I get lucky. I was planning to write about their little prank, but I'll save that for next chapter. Haha, all the characters' personalities are way different than that of my previous stories, but I hope it's a good change!

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They both sat down in their chairs when they were outside, not daring to look at each other

They both sat down in their chairs when they were outside, not daring to look at each other. Pan cleared her throat after a second, before she took a bite out of her sandwich. She knew Robert was looking at the two, but she didn't want to bring anything up. When she noticed he looked away, she thought she was safe from questions. That is, until he spoke quietly, "What were you guys doing inside the house?"

It was a simple question, really, but the tone of his voice was suspicious. Pan couldn't help but glance to her left at Trunks, but when she met his eyes, she blushed, though not knowing why. She instantly looked away, not meeting anyone's gaze. The rest of her family and friends were not paying any attention at the three, which she was thankful for, but she was still hesitant to speak.

"We did nothing."

Pan glanced at Trunks again, who had spoken. If that wasn't suspicious, she didn't know what was. She kicked him under the table, only to be nudged with his knee. Pan knew Robert wasn't going to take that answer. She was about to add on to what Trunks had said, but Robert beat her to it.

"I went in there with Goten a while earlier, but we didn't see you. I guess you guys went upstairs?" He was stirring his drink with a straw, not meeting the couples' eyes. For some reason, he looked ticked off; his eyes almost glaring at his cup, his fingers tightly grasping the straw, lips turned downward into a frown.

"You look pissed," came Trunks' reply, and Pan shot him a look. Did he have to be so blunt with everything? For the first time since Pan and Trunks returned from their 'mission', Robert looked up and met Trunks' eyes. He looked extremely angry actually, compared to Trunks' annoyed expression.

"You look irritatingly smug," Robert shot back, releasing his hold on the straw in his drink.

Trunks couldn't help but smirk at the other man's reply. Was he seriously jealous because he was alone with Pan for a few minutes while they secretly applied Vaseline on the doorknobs? "Why do you look so jealous?" he asked, dropping the fork he held on his plate, causing it to clatter against the dish. He placed his hands on his knees and leaned forward to quietly say across the table, "You don't like Pan, do you?" his smirk still on his lips, eyes almost daring him to answer.

Pan decided to speak then, after nudging Trunks' shoulder with her hand. "Trunks, you seriously need to think before you speak! Robert's just a friend."

Trunks met Robert's eyes yet again, his smirk still present. "I guess you're not trying hard enough to catch her attention if she's still unaware of your intentions."

Pan was struck dumbfounded. For as long as she'd known Robert, she had never thought that he would ever hit on her. Now that she thought about it, there were a few times that were a little strange to be something friendly when they were at school together. "Trunks," she started, but Robert spoke, interrupting her.

"As if kissing her, like you did earlier today, would ever get her to like you! I'm not the one to judge, but the way you were around her got me to believe that you're one stubborn jacka-"

"Robert," she said before he was able to finish insulting the man beside her, who was still smirking as if Robert was making a fool out of himself. "Let's talk inside." She got up and, before she walked away from the table, Trunks reached out and grabbed her wrist, gently pulling her back to him, while Robert unknowing of this, continued to walk to the house. Pan tried to pull free from his grasp, but Trunks pulled her closer to him.

"Watch his expression, Pan," he whispered, waiting for Robert to turn to look at them. When he did, Trunks pulled at Pan's wrist again, a little too hard, and she had to grab onto his shoulders before their noses bumped. Trunks quietly laughed, amused at Robert's furious stare.

"Kami, Trunks, you're such an idiot," she said, and she pulled her hand away from him and walked away, turning only once to shoot him a glare at his intent to making Robert jealous. When she reached to where Robert stood, they headed inside together and shut the sliding door behind them. "Sorry, Trunks can be a little-"

"So do you or do you not like him?" Robert interrupted, not even bothering to ease into the conversation. He glanced outside at Trunks, who was now taking part into a conversation between his family and friends, laughing at something his sister said. Then he glanced back to Pan. "The last time I asked you that was before he kissed you. And seriously, what happened earlier, when he followed you back into the house? Because I don't believe in any of that 'we did nothing' crap, since that is obviously sheer bull."

Once again, Pan was taken aback by his outburst. So Trunks was right when he thought that Robert was jealous. "No, I… We just…" She couldn't find the words to say to him.

Robert sighed, closing his eyes for a split second. Then he looked intently at her eyes, searching for the answer himself, as if she wasn't answering fast enough. "I like you a lot, Pan, and when you asked me to join your family for dinner, I wasn't expecting to see that guy who you claim to be just friends with, kiss you. And in front of me too! I mean really," he was still speaking, but Pan had tuned out a while ago, quickly glancing at Trunks, hoping he'd made eye contact with her.

She wanted him to save her.

She was that desperate. And, as if it were destiny, he looked up at the right moment and caught her gaze. With a hand behind her back, she waved her hand to him, motioning him to quickly come over and help her out. Robert was closing in on her. He had just finished his speech about why he thought they should be together, and now he was leaning in for a kiss. Right before he was even close enough that Pan could feel his breath against her lips, the sliding door opened and Trunks stepped in.

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked, not looking at them as he pretended to be refilling his cup with more lemonade.

Robert cursed under his breath and Pan stepped aside so that she wasn't in front of him. Robert crossed his arms. "Well actually, you are."

Trunks' face was emotionless as he spoke after taking a small sip of his drink. "It's a good thing it's my house, then huh? I don't have to worry about stuff like that." He could see Robert's fingers squeeze into his palm, forming a tight fist, and he couldn't help but smirk. "Don't be jealous, Robert, Pan doesn't like jealous people."

He was supposed to be helping her, right? To Pan though, it was far from saving her. He was actually taunting Robert in front of her for amusement. She could feel a blush creep to her cheeks, her face getting quiet warm. "Trunks," she started, wanting him to just save her, not tempt the guy even more.

Robert beat her to it though, when he spoke. "Seriously, what is your problem? It's like when I ask you a simple question as to what you guys were doing earlier, you start verbally assaulting me like I'm not wanted here!"

"Well maybe you're not wanted here after all. Did you ever think of that, smartas-"

And then Robert came at him, punching him hard at his jaw. Pan quickly ran toward them, and just before Trunks' fists came crashing towards the other man, she grabbed his arm. He could have continued, since he was much stronger than her, but he knew she didn't want him to. "Trunks," she said quietly, her other hand on his shoulder. "Don't." If he had continued and punched the other man, Robert would be out cold.

Trunks sighed, bring his arm back and touched his bottom lip that was coming away with blood. He shrugged Pan's hand off his shoulder and mumbled, "I'm heading out for some air," before he brushed past her toward the front door. When he closed the door shut behind him, Pan turned to Robert.

"Why did you have to do that?" she asked, but Robert just stuffed his hands in his pockets, not meeting her eyes. "If you really hated him that much, you don't have to talk to him, you know, he's only that way because-"

"He likes you," he interrupted. Their eyes met then, and he gave her a half smile, that faded quickly. "And that's why I hate him that much." Then he went out the back door, where everyone was, oblivious to what had just happened.

Pan closed her eyes for a second. She wasn't sure if she wanted to believe what Robert had just said. She knew now that Robert was in love with her, but was there a chance that Trunks could too? She took one step toward the back door to join everyone for dinner, but stopped. Before she could change her mind, she turned around and headed toward the front door, where Trunks was.

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End file.
